July 17, 2024

MILWAUKEE — J.D. Vance had been billed as a bulldog — a rabid anti-interventionist and MAGA warrior who some expected would appeal more to Trumpist diehards than expand the Republican base.

But as he stepped into the national spotlight on Wednesday to accept the Republicans’ nomination for vice president, Vance sought to portray himself as a calmer, lower-temperature frontman for the MAGA movement his running mate built — and for which he is now the heir apparent.

He leaned on his rural roots to portray himself as a champion of “the working man” who would work to elevate the interests of blue-collar America over those of its allies abroad. He showcased his youth — at 39, he is the first millennial to join a major-party ticket — to draw a contrast with 81-year-old President Joe Biden, who Vance described as an “out-of-touch” career politician.

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